Last chance for residents to have their say on hospital’s future role
HEALTH BOSSES leading the consultation on the future of urgent care services at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton are calling on the public to have their say before the process draws to a close this week.
As part of the consultation led by NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), in partnership with South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 13 public meetings have already been held. The final meeting is at 10.15am this Friday at Northallerton Town Hall.
The Friarage Hospital has experienced difficulties in recruiting critical care anaesthetists for some time. The trust said the situation became more serious in February 2019, resulting in urgent, temporary changes to A&E, critical care and emergency admissions overnight from the following month.
The consultation focuses on two options for urgent and emergency care. The first involves replacing A&E with a 24/7 Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) supported by a responsive front-of-house emergency medical service. This is the current model introduced as part of the temporary arrangements and it deals with approximately 90 per cent of patients who would have previously attended A&E. The second would see A&E replaced with a 16-hour UTC that would close between midnight and 8am as the service currently sees less than three patients per night on average.
Urging people to have their say, CCG clinical chairman Dr
Charles Parker said: “Under the new model, more than nine out of 10 people will continue to receive healthcare in Northallerton.
“Our aim is to maximise local access to high quality services, and the new Urgent Treatment Centre would provide care for 97 per cent of those that attended A&E last year. This service is backed up by the consultant-led admissions unit with daily admissions and has seen a return to the treatment of minor illnesses in children in the local area, which under the previous adults A&E model we couldn’t provide.”
More than 1,300 people have already completed an online survey.
The Save the Friarage Hospital campaign mounted a legal challenge against the downgrading of emergency care, but proceedings were halted last July amid plans for the consultation. However, members are concerned that an option to reinstate the A&E was not included in the process.
Campaign lead Holly Wilkinson yesterday said the options on the table “completely blindsided” the settlement.
In part of its response to this, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “It would not be right for the trust or partners in NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group to consult on an option to reinstate A&E when it clearly cannot be delivered.”
Our aim is to maximise local access to high quality services. Dr Charles Parker, CCG clinical chairman.